AIMA Recommendations Action Plan 2024

Action Plan

Next Steps

Person(s) Responsible

Implementation Date

Recommendation 1: Establish and share American Indian student retention and completion goals.

Use Native American Retention data (as detailed in Recommendation 4) to inform and shape the plan. Achieve retention and completion rates for NA students at least equal or surpass those of the rest of the student population.

Identify a working group to develop the retention plan. Include representatives from Student Affairs and Campus Life, Academic Affairs, and Institutional Research.

Leverage interdepartmental coordination to enhance the community of care to support NA students. Focus on creating a learning environment that addresses the unique needs of NA students. Identify trends, challenges, and goals for improvement.

Leslie Webb, Vice President for Student Success and Enrollment Management

John DeBoer, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

July 1, 2025

Recommendation 2: Identify an individual at each campus who is at a more senior level who will serve point of contact for American Indian student success efforts. This person will work with college/university leadership to advise retention and completion strategies for American Indian students. The individual will also be available as a first point of contact to guide American Indian students to the appropriate college personnel as needed to address problems or specific needs.

 “Enhance Native American student access and culturally informed support" is one of the FY25 University Playbook Projects.

We have selected three individuals, listed in order of seniority, whose shared leadership will ensure that the American Indian and Minority experience is consistently attended to across sectors. They are the formal leaders for the Playbook project as well.

Ensure consistent communication between AIMA Council, primary senior points of contact, and the President’s Native American Advisory Council, the Executive Leadership team, and the University Leadership Council.

Brian Reed, Associate Vice Provost

Karla Bird, Tribal Outreach Specialist

Michelle Guzman, American Indian Student Services

July 1, 2025

Recommendation 3: Assign departmental points of contact who have the unique cultural perspective to serve American Indian students most effectively in the areas of (these efforts will be coordinated by the individual identified in recommendation #2).

Develop or enhance academic and service units' goals to improve coordination with Tribal Outreach enacting AIMA recommendations. Ensure that each unit has clear objectives to support American Indian students effectively.

Hire Community Equity Career Outreach Specialist in Experiential Learning and Career Success.

Ensure points of contact are well-versed in the specific challenges and opportunities related to American Indian student success.

Establish specific responsibilities for each point of contact.

Develop a collaborative working group that meets regularly to discuss progress, share best practices, and address challenges. Focus on interdepartmental coordination to enhance the overall quality of care for American Indian students.

Ginger Lowry, Financial Aid

John Nugent, Housing and Community Standards

Kelly Nolin, Admissions

Amy Capolupo, Dean of Students and Associate Vice Provost for Wellbeing

Patrick Beckwith, VETS Office

Brian French, Office for Student Success

Jimmy Kendall, Missoula College

Meri Telin, Bitterroot College

Mika Watanabe, Office of Disability Equity

TBD, People and Culture

TBD, Experiential Learning and Career Success

TBD, Student Accounts

July 1, 2025

Recommendation 4:

Collect/Share/Analyze quantitative and qualitative data to guide and improve American Indian enrollment and student success

Gather and disaggregate data within the Native American student population by Pell, first-generation, and disability.

Adopt a strength-based approach to evaluating the success rates of Native American students across different majors and for non-declared majors compared to the overall student population.

Identify trends and patterns in student success rates within various academic disciplines. Focus on majors where Native American students have higher or lower success rates to understand underlying causes.

Determine which courses serve as critical entry points (gateway courses) and which have high rates of D, F, or Withdrawal (DFW) grades. Understand why Native American students stop out (temporarily leave) or drop out (leave before degree attainment).

John DeBoer, Vice Provost for Academic Affairs

Brian Reed, Associate Vice Provost

Karla Bird, Tribal Outreach Specialist

Pope Ashworth, Director of Institutional Research

 July 1, 2025

Recommendation 5: Request campuses consider how to include American Indian voice in the search process when hiring campus leaders and assess leadership candidate’s knowledge and experience working with American Indian students, faculty and staff

The new People and Culture Sector will prioritize incorporating American Indian representation on search committees and explicitly assess candidates' knowledge and experience with American Indian students, faculty, and staff.

Coordinate with the FY25 Playbook Project Leads working to” “Implement new strategies and processes in seeking and attracting talent”

All job postings will highlight the necessity of such experience, and interview questions will be designed to evaluate this competency. Hiring Managers will collaborate closely with committee chairs to maintain a culturally sensitive and thorough hiring process.

Training and guidelines will be developed and provided to search committees to standardize practices. Data on American Indian representation will be collected and shared to inform hiring decisions, and the effectiveness of these new practices will be monitored and evaluated regularly to ensure they meet the intended goals.

Jay Stephens, Vice President for People and Culture

Marcie Briggs, Director of Talent Acquisition & Systems Management

July 1, 2025

Recommendation 6: Provide annual professional development opportunities for all faculty and staff in the areas of Indian Education for All, American Indian culture and cultural sensitivity and the history of Montana’s First Peoples

Regularly scheduled professional development opportunities will be offered to ensure ongoing education and improvement in these areas.

Coordinate with the FY25 Playbook Project Leads working to” “Implement new strategies and processes in seeking and attracting talent”

Design learning opportunities to equip faculty and staff with the knowledge and skills and quality of care needed to create a supportive and inclusive learning and work environment.

Continue to provide learning opportunities that include Indigenous perspectives and traditional knowledge. (For example, our Indigenous Mentoring Program.)

Jay Stephens, Vice President for People and Culture

Jasmine Zink Laine, Office of Organizational Leadership Development

July 1, 2025

Recommendation 7: Request campuses incorporate American Indian professional development referenced in recommendation #6 in all new employee orientation including faculty

The FY25 Playbook Project Leads from the newly established People and Culture sector are working to “Implement new strategies and processes in onboarding talent.”

They are creating an onboarding program for all new employees, including faculty. In addition to the mandatory Indian Education for All we will continue expanding upon IEFA training content at new faculty orientation and will incorporate content into the orientation for all employees as well.

Implement new orientation and onboarding program for new employees to incorporate content expanding upon American Indian professional development.

Build upon the established New Faculty orientation by adding a NAGPRA component.

Integrate Community-Based Research training into new Faculty Orientation.

Jay Stephens, Vice President for People and Culture

Jasmine Zink Laine, Office of Organizational Leadership Development

Karla Bird, Tribal Outreach Specialist

Courtney Little Axe, NAGPRA Coordinator

TBD, Research and Creative Scholarship

 July 1, 2025

Recommendation 8: Develop a plan to use Apply Montana and FAFSA completion efforts to support American Indian students access to the MUS.

Provide enhanced support for Native American families during the transition to college via established Tribal Outreach efforts and the Payne Family Native American Center.

Coordinate with the FY25 Project Leads working to “Map user experiences for a wider range of learners, from inquiry to completion to inform improved business processes.”

Hire and onboard the Program Manager for the Payne Family Native American Center.

Revise the American Indian Gateway website functionality to emphasize student success and community care.

Create customized Apply Montana and FAFSA materials and resources for the PNAC.

PNAC mission fulfillment work.

Create dedicated time within the Family Education Model and tribal outreach dedicated to FAFSA and Waiver application completion.

Karla Bird, Tribal Outreach Specialist

TBD, PFNAC Program Manager

July 1, 2025